Torture Widely Used on Falun Gong Practitioners in Dongling Prison

September 05, 2017 | By a Minghui Correspondent in Liaoning Province, China

(Minghui.org) Dongling Prison, located at No. 88 Dongling Rd, Hunnan District (formerly called Dongling District), Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, is one of the places used to detain and persecute male Falun Gong practitioners in Liaoning Province.

In order to achieve its 100 percent success rate at "transforming" Falun Gong practitioners so they will renounce their belief, a variety of methods of torture are used to destroy practitioners, both physically and mentally.

What follows are descriptions of just a small fraction of how the practitioners are tortured in Dongling Prison.

Typical Persecution

Mr. Bai Yufu, 42, is a Falun Gong practitioner from Tieling City, Liaoning Province. He started a hunger strike on April 25, 2009, to protest the maltreatment to which he was being subjected. As punishment, he was taken to the prison hospital and force-fed three days later. His hands and feet were handcuffed to the bed, then a mixture of corn mush mixed with sleeping pills was poured into his stomach through a nasogastric tube.

Four inmates took turns watching him to prevent him from sleeping. They beat him even if he blinked his eyes.

Persecution Re-enactment: Tied up and force-fed

Seven days later, another group of four inmates replaced the first four to monitor him. Chen Mingqiang, head of the Prison Administration Section, and Cai Guangze, head of the Prison Investigation Section, told the second group, “You can do whatever you want to prevent him from sleeping. You may earn a reduction in your sentence if you do the job well.” The inmates were then given toothpicks to use on Mr. Bai Yufu if needed to keep his eyes open.

Mr. Bai Yufu's toes were crushed on May 4, 2009, which caused the nails of his big toes and second toes to fall off. On May 6, Chen Mingqiang instigated the inmates to dig at Mr. Bai Yufu's wounds with a metal plate and toothbrush. On May 8, Mr. Bai passed out from this torture. After he woke up, he was made to sit on a small bench from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. He was then forced to consume the just-boiled corn congee [gruel made from corn] and then take a big cup of cold water every hour. He was tortured in this way until May 28, 2009.

2. Mr. Xu Dawei – Tortured to the Point of Mental Breakdown, Died 13 Days After Release

Mr. Xu Dawei is a Falun Gong practitioner from Qingyuan County, Fushun City, Liaoning Province. He was arrested in January 2001 by officers from Shengli Police Station, Heping District, Shenyang City, and was later sentenced to an eight-year prison term. During the eight years, Mr. Xu was transferred to different prisons, including Dabei Prison, No. 1 Lingyuan Prison, No. 2 Fushun Prison, and Dongling Prison.

He was subjected to various forms of torture in prison, especially during the two years in Dongling Prison. This included being handcuffed and shackled for long periods, being hung by his arms, force-fed, beaten with a rubber pipe, given electric shocks, etc.

When Mr. Xu was released on February 3, 2009, he had suffered a mental collapse from all the abuse. His face was dull, his eyes moved slowly, and his body was covered with wounds. He was severely underweight and unable to recognize his family.

When he arrived home, he hid in a corner and looked very fearful. His family tried to calm him down and told him, “Do not fear. You are home now.”

He was sometimes confused, and sometimes alert and acting normally. He said to his family, “Dongling Prison was very evil. They injected some medication to bring on a mental illness. They forced me to take other medicines. I was handcuffed in a corner and beaten until I passed out. I was often put into solitary confinement and kept in a small, dark room.”

Mr. Xu Dawei died at the age of 36 on February 16, 2009, only 13 days after arriving home.

Mr. Kang Tiewei is a Falun Gong practitioner in Benxi City, Liaoning Province. He was arrested at home in the early morning of April 13, 2007. He was sentenced to six and a half years in prison by the Huxi District Court of Benxi City in July 2008. He was taken to the No. 4 Ward at Dongling Prison. In June 2011, he was beaten during a brainwashing session, which resulted in a broken leg and loss of some teeth. He was also forced to swallow water mixed with cigarette butts and torn flies.

Persecution Re-enactment: Beating

4. Mr. Lang Qingsheng – Forced to Squat For Two Days and Two Nights, Deprived of Sleep, Beaten Unconscious

Mr. Lang Qingsheng, 62, is a Falun Gong practitioner in Donggang City, Liaoning Province. He was secretly sentenced to a six-year prison term by the Donggang City Court on December 25, 2007, and transferred to Dongling Prison on June 12, 2008.

Guard Tian Kuncheng locked Mr. Lang in a small room on July 6, 2011, and instructed several inmates to watch him. They forced him to squat in one place for two consecutive days and nights and didn't allow him to sleep. He was beaten whenever he closed his eyes.

He started losing consciousness two days later. His legs became swollen and his blood pressure rose to 220 mm Hg.

Mr. Jiao Lin is a Falun Gong practitioner in Fengcheng City, who used to work for Fengcheng Supercharger Factory. He was sentenced to a three-year prison term by the Fengcheng City Court on May 30, 2011, and then sent to Dongling Prison. In the No. 2 Prison Ward he was beaten in his cell several times by four or five inmates, and had to be taken to the hospital for emergency treatment.

The head guards of the No. 2 Ward, Li Ronghua, Li Runbin, and Yan Zhengyuan, had him handcuffed to a fixed spot, so he was unable to move for 24 hours, which resulted in swelling of his whole body from lack of circulation.

When Mr. Jiao Lin's family visited him on November 17, 2011, his hands were handcuffed, and he was considerably underweight. His hands were also badly swollen, and he had difficulty walking.

The visit was closely monitored, and was interrupted if the guard heard anything he deemed improper in the conversation. From Mr. Jiao Lin's condition, his family judged that he had been subjected to a torture called “big hanging,” where one's four limbs are tied up and then stretched.

Mr. Tong Haibo is a Falun Gong practitioner in Chaoyang City. He was sentenced to a three-year prison term by the Heping District Court of Shenyang City on October 27, 2014.

He was taken to Donglin Prison on April 27, 2015. During the first month in the prison, Ju Chuanzai, former head of the No. 8 Ward, instigated inmates to torture Mr. Tong Haibo, including depriving him of sleep, pulling out his pubic hair, pouring urine in his mouth, and beating him.

Mr. Li Lun is a Falun Gong practitioner in Dengta City, Liaoning Province. He was arrested on January 20, 2016, and later sentenced to four years in jail. He was detained in the No. 8 Ward of Dongling Prison.

The guards instigated inmates to torture him so he couldn't sleep for several days. They beat his head with the soles of their shoes, stuck toothpicks into his private parts, and poured urine into his mouth. He was also subjected to electric shocks and placed in solitary confinement.

Persecution Re-enactment: Electric Shock

8. Mr. Wang Pengyi – Face Deformed From Beating

Mr. Wang Pengyi, a Falun Gong practitioner in Fushun City, Liaoning Province, was taken to Dongling Prison in April 2016. Guards Sun Peng and Chen Fei started brainwashing sessions with him on May 19. They publicly berated him and wouldn't let him sleep. Sun repeatedly struck Mr. Pengyi's head and face with the sole of his sole of his shoe for an entire afternoon. Mr. Wang stumbled afterward, and he appeared to be in a trance. His face was deformed, and his head was so swollen it affected his ability to see.

He was subjected to another severe beating a few days later. Guard Chen Fei started beating him at around 8:30 p.m. on May 22 and didn't stop until 3:00 a.m.

Persecution Re-enactment: Beating the face with shoe sole.

9. Mr. Zheng Shoujun – Murdered After Two Weeks in Prison

Mr. Zheng Shoujun, a Falun Gong practitioner in Liaozhong District, Shenyang City, was arrested in February 2006 and taken to Liaozhong Detention Center. He was brutally beaten by Li Wei, head of Liaozhong Domestic and Security Division, which resulted in severe head injuries. He started a hunger strike to protest the mistreatment and was force-fed as a consequence. He was later sentenced to a four-year prison term.

Mr. Zheng Shoujun

Mr. Zheng was secretly sent to Dongling Prison on August 6, 2008. His family received a call from prison authorities, asking them to visit Mr. Zheng in the prison hospital. When they arrived, however, all they saw was his lifeless body. His head was swollen and misshapen by injuries. His face was covered with bruises, and his abdomen was swollen. He was wearing only his underwear. Family members noticed that his hands were tightly balled as if in a struggle. Less than two weeks after entering the prison, Mr. Zheng had been murdered at the age of 44.